DETROIT, Mich. – The Davenport women's basketball team gave up 52 points in the paint on Thursday night as they dropped their GLIAC opener, 78-58, at Wayne State. The Warriors were cold from behind the arc going 2-of-12, but had a great deal of success inside and took full advantage of it. Lexi Boyke, Shea Tripp, and Taylor Thompson in the frontcourt each scored in double figures for the Warriors. Boyke played just over 10 minutes but made an impact with 10 points and three rebounds. Tripp logged the most minutes for Wayne State with 37-plus and shot 6-of-12 from the floor to finish with 16 points. Thompson used her speed and agility to get easy buckets as she finished with a game-high 17 points and earned a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Davenport came out strong and made their first four field goals to build a 9-6 lead just two minutes into the game. DU was up 11-10 at the 4:42 mark before the Warriors went on a 9-1 run over the next two-plus minutes. The Panthers trailed 23-13 after the first quarter as the Warriors shot 9-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
Davenport played a tough second quarter and found themselves in a tight contest by halftime. They outscored Wayne State 17-9 in the quarter and cut the deficit to just two at the break after a
Jada McCree triple with 1:09 left. Davenport held the Warriors scoreless over the final 3:12 of the quarter. The Warriors shot 3-of-15 from the floor in the quarter and committed six turnovers.
Wayne State scored 30 of their 52 points in the paint in the second half to pull away. WSU outscored DU 24-13 in the third quarter and 22-15 in the fourth quarter. Wayne State opened the third quarter with four straight points and grew their lead to double digits at 43-33 with 6:37 left in the quarter. Davenport saw an eight-point deficit grow to 56-43 at the end of the quarter.
The Panthers trailed by eight points at 58-50 with 7:10 left in the contest, but the Warriors finished the game on a 20-8 run. DU got a team-high 14 points by
Ellie Toney off the bench in 31 minutes.
Lillee Gustafson and
Isabel Lindo were also in double figures with 10 points. Gustafson led the team with seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots. DU finished shooting 39.6 percent from the floor for the game and went 11-of-16 at the charity stripe.
The Panthers will continue GLIAC play on the road on Saturday with a 1:00 PM tip at Saginaw Valley State.
